Some gas stations want to be your charging station
Will you use a truck stop?
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For many Americans thinking about electric vehicles (EVs) leads to the chicken or the egg question-which comes first, the EV or the charging station? One automaker is trying to answer that question with a big partnership.
General Motors has ambitious EV plans and it is trying to ensure customers will feel comfortable moving away from the pump to a plug. So GM is going into business with the truck stop company Pilot and the EV charging company EVgo.
One of Pilot's 750 truck stops in 44 states. (Credit: Pilot Flying J)
ELECTRIFIED TRUCK STOPS
Even if you haven’t stopped at one, you have undoubtedly seen a Pilot-Flying J truck stop along a highway. There are 750 Pilot truck stops in 44 states. Over the next several years, 500 of those truck stops will have EVgo charging stations. “It’s a new market that we want to make sure we are taking care of,” said John Tully, the VP of Strategy and Business Development at Pilot.
Pilot VP of Business Development John Tully explains why the company is going into business with GM and EVgo. Full story is here.
“The world is changing in some interesting ways, right? And EVs have a lot of support, and they're moving forward. And that's a customer base,” Tully told me. These will be DC Fast Chargers capable of up to 350 kW charging. EVgo will install and maintain the charging stations. Pilot will own the chargers. GM will make the chargers part of its nationwide network that will provide special benefits to GM vehicle owners.
RANGE ANXIETY
The hope is that Pilot could have a charging station at 50-mile intervals on the highways where it has stations. GM CEO Mary Barra said, “With travel centers across North America, Pilot Company is an ideal collaborator to reach a broad audience of EV drivers." GM and EVgo are also working together to add 3,250 fast chargers across the country by the end of 2025.
The business opportunity Pilot sees comes from the fact that even with DC Fast Chargers, EV drivers, “are going to be there longer than what we’re used to as gasoline users. And we'd love for people to come in and enjoy the amenities that we offer,” Tully said.
"NEW HORIZONS"
But the EV driver is a different customer than a long haul trucker. Pilot is using this partnership to evolve its truck stops. “We're really working hard to make sure it's a premium experience,” Tully explained. Pilot says it is sending $1 billion to upgrade its “amenities.”
No EV chargers have been added to Pilot truck stops yet. The company says an electric Hummer will be able to charge in the coming years. (Credit: GM)
None of the charging stations have been built. I asked Tully “what will the experience be like.” He said the key is comfort and simplicity. “Having canopies so you're not out in the sun or in the rain when you're plugging in… you don't have to open three or four apps to figure out how to get things charged,” he said.
INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS
The partners say they hope to take advantage of some of the government infrastructure money that Congress approved to help build these stations-within-a-station.
(Credit: EVgo)
Tully believes it’s a strong business case to evolve Pilot’s truck stops to attract EV drivers. Those on the road will want a safe place to charge and maybe get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee. “We do think that's a difference right? Having a place that's open 24 hours, clean bathrooms, well-lit, great food offerings. We think that's going to be a difference.”
Fuller interview with Tully on Pilot's plans is here.
(Cover image credit: Pilot Flying J)